When CAT 2025 is only 6 months away, there are a lot of things going around in the CAT preparation communities other than the exam itself. Aspirants all over the internet are talking about good profiles to get into IIMs, IIMs average packages, CAT percentile required for IIMs, and most importantly, “I am a fresher, what are my chances to get into a top IIM?”. A question asked by many but only answered by a few.
Since CAT is an exam that allows final year students to be eligible for the exam. It is natural that IIMs accept freshers for their MBA programs. But, the question is how many freshers get into IIMs when many mentors and repeaters suggest that aspirants to have some work experience to improve their profiles. Therefore, in this blog, we bring you some official data about the batch profiles of top IIMs about what are the percentage of freshers out of the total students. The data will also shed some light on how different IIMs accept a limited number of freshers into their final batch.
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Percentage of Freshers in Top IIMs
The data below is presented in percentages, as the number of students in IIMs changes slightly every year. The information is sourced from official websites and resources to ensure complete accuracy and transparency.
Freshers at IIM Ahmedabad
In the batch of 2024, IIM Ahmedabad admitted 404 students in its core PGP (MBA) programme, out of which 29% were freshers and 71% were experienced candidates with experience ranges from a month to more than 36 months.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Ahmedabad
| Particulars | Details |
| Percentage of Freshers in IIM Ahmedabad | 29% |
| Percentage of Experienced Candidates in IIM Ahmedabad | 71% |
Freshers at IIM Bangalore
In the batch of 2024, IIM Bangalore admitted 535 students to its MBA programme, out of which only 14.45% were freshers. The experienced candidates’ work experience ranges from one month to more than 48 months.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Bangalore
| Number of Experience | Number of Students | Percentage of Students |
| No Experience | 73 | 14.45% |
| 1-12 Months | 25 | 4.95% |
| 13-24 Months | 130 | 26.13% |
| 25-36 Months | 178 | 35.24% |
| 37-48 Months | 90 | 17.82% |
| Above 48 Months | 39 | 7.72% |
| Total | 535 | 100% |
Freshers at IIM Calcutta
In the batch of 2024, IIM Calcutta admitted 479 students to its MBA programme. Of 479 students, 197 students were freshers, around 41.12% of the total batch, indicating a strong indicator favouring freshers.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Calcutta
| Number of Experience | Number of Students | Percentage of Students |
| No Experience | 197 | 41.12% |
| 1-24 Months | 189 | 39.45% |
| 24-48 Months | 91 | 18.99% |
| More than 48 Months | 2 | 0.41% |
| Total | 479 | 100% |
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Freshers at IIM Lucknow
In the batch of 2022, IIM Lucknow admitted 576 students to its MBA programme. Although 2024 data is not available yet, 2022 promises a piece of fair information. Out of 576 students, 203 students were freshers with zero experience, and the remaining 373 students were experienced with experience ranges from one month to more than 48 months.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Lucknow
| Number of Experience | Number of Students | Percentage of Students |
| No Experience | 203 | 35.24% |
| 1-12 Months | 102 | 17.70% |
| 13-36 Months | 176 | 30.55% |
| 37-48 Months | 76 | 13.19% |
| More than 48 Months | 19 | 3.29% |
| Total | 576 | 100% |
Freshers at IIM Kozhikode
The official data around 2024 isn’t available yet. But, 2022 batch profile data indicates good numbers for freshers as well as experienced candidates. The data shows 23% were freshers and the remaining candidates 67% were experienced candidates.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Kozhikode
| Number of Experience | Percentage of Students |
| No Experience | 23% |
| 1-11 Months | 10% |
| 12-23 Months | 25% |
| 24-35 Months | 27% |
| More than 35 Months | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Freshers at IIM Indore
In the batch of 2022, IIM Indore suggest a good number of experienced candidates in their official report. For instance, 30% candidates are freshers and 44% candidates are candidates with an experience of 12-24 months.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Indore
| Number of Experience | Percentage of Students |
| <1 Year | 30% |
| 1-2 Years | 44% |
| 2-3 Years | 21% |
| 3+ Years | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
Freshers at IIM Mumbai
In the 2022 batch, out of the total 446 students, 20% were freshers with no experience, and the remaining 80% were experienced, with experience ranging from one month to more than 36 months.
Percentage of Freshers at IIM Mumbai
| Number of Experience | Percentage of Students |
| Freshers | 20% |
| 1-12 Months | 21% |
| 13-24 Months | 32% |
| 25-36 Months | 19% |
| More than 36 Months | 8% |
| Total | 100% |
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